Baiting Olympic Protesters Part III

Part 3 of a 3 part series – please click here for part 1, or here for part 2

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If it’s Broke! Fix it!

Here’s the first half of my Olympic “Fix” solution;

Use community-driven SOCIAL MEDIA to get the 2010 word out.

Unfortunately, this solution poses a slight glitch from the IOC’s perspective.

Social media is a scary communication tool for VANOC because Olympic organizations have a serious challenge with transparency. Consequently, social media promotion doesn’t really work well when a large and growing portion of residents in our region are already internationally shouting their displeasure of 2010 using blogs and Twitter.

Ironically, this glitch is a result of the old IOC mantra “You are either with us or against us.”

For decades the IOC forced people to pick sides, so they did - the other side.

Pre-internet, when a community had a complaint about the Olympics it only circulated in small host region circles, but today social media bounces Olympic complaints all over the world. Ease and affordability of distribution by taxpayers means the IOC can no longer control the message, which equates to lack of transparency, lack of transparency being their secret weapon.

Interestingly though, in another arena, the IOC still can and does gag Olympic athletes who want to blog and Twitter. They consider athletes as paid employees, and restrict what they are allowed to publish online, which in some circumstances is understandable, but the gag order has crossed into the realm of censorship and has athletes upset. Olympic athletes are passionate and have strong opinions. Most too are intelligent as well as responsible, but still in the year 2010 they will be muzzled like children by VANOC and the IOC.

Let’s pop the top off one more Russian matryoshka nesting doll.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson recently encouraged everyone in our host region to use social media to reach around the world to promote the 2010 Olympics. He spoke at Vancouver Change Camp, a gathering of social media experts and politicos exploring ways to help government become more responsive and to also help citizens promote and manage civic issues more effectively.

In his address to the crowd Mayor Robertson said, “I don’t think the older generation quite gets it  …yet,” referring to social media, and went on to explain, “leveraging the 2010 Games on this front . . . unaccredited communications and information, for Vancouver is going to be really important. So this base of intellect and ingenuity here needs to be in full gear and empowered to do all that you can do to put us on the map and grows us up as a real force around the world in this evolution.”

Vancouver’s mayor is inviting everyone to use social media to promote our 2010 Games and develop new solutions. Based on the IOC’s past actions it’s not unreasonable to assume VANOC would consider it as unwanted meddling in Olympic affairs.

So … to get back to the question at hand, if Vancouver’s mayor is looking for ways to improve the 2101 situation, why, considering The Sun is also an Olympic partner, would The Sun bait Olympic protesters into acting badly?

To answer this paradox you have to understand how protest works in an Olympic region.

Olympic protest is made up of two basic groups of people. Locals, who in essence are amateurs and have almost zero impact as protesters, and the second group, professionals secretly funded by extremists who arrive from all over the country and around the world. Many professional protesters don’t understand local issues, yet they lead, instigate and march right alongside locals causing pure unadulterated Hell in our community.

That’s dangerous, and costly on a number of levels. Professional Olympic protesters are funded by unnamed sources many of which are extremists, plus it is rumored they are also funded by a growing number of corporations that compete directly with official Olympic sponsors. It’s all hidden through shell companies and bogus organizations.

Olympic organizations have dealt with protestors for decades, and they know the drill. They learned long ago that if one hundred protestors show up, send fifteen hundred anti-riot police. The IOC regards protest as a cost of doing business. Consequently, it’s of little consequence to them if news media throws a little gas on the fire. Protest is going to happen anyway, and the IOC and their partners, local mainstream news companies, know government tax dollars will pay for it. The almost one billion dollar 2010 Olympic security tab is already allocated, and it can’t all go to guarding Olympic Family VIPs. Also, and this is important, if Aboriginal, or any protestors for that matter swallow the news media bait and come out of the gate in a frenzy they’ll make mistakes and give anti-riot enforcement “just cause” to deal with them using extreme prejudice.

Agents provocateurs are the real deal. Bud Mercer, the RCMP Olympic security top dog refuses to comment on whether he will use provocateurs to feed the fire, which leads one to believe he will, because if he wasn’t going to instigate trouble he would clearly say “NO!” to set local resident’s minds at ease.

As you can see though, one of Mercer’s Olympic partners, local mainstream news media, is already provoking trouble by baiting protesters. Unknown to most people in host regions, Olympic security forces and mainstream news media are brothers in arms under an oligopic patriotic cloak of secrecy.

Here’s another excerpt from my 2006 book, Leverage Olympic Momentum;

“Olympic-time legislation makes peaceful street-protest almost impossible.

[ed. Yes, you read it right. Laws change in all Olympic regions, even Vancouver. Protest zones are nothing new, except since Beijing 2008 it’s risen to a whole new level.]

Always remember the unspoken Olympic credo, ‘you are either with us or against us.’ If media wants access to Olympic events and information they cannot play both sides of the street. In the past, media have been threatened with losing accreditation if they photograph police action against protestors. When police remove identification badges and charge the crowd it negatively impacts Olympic ticket sales and television viewers.

Protesting usually becomes very intense in the last six months leading up to the Games. It is during this period international media start relocating into the region in large numbers. Up until that point they may have visited the region once or twice, but during the last six months they set up a permanent base until the Games are over. More media equals increased protesting. What better time than when the whole world is watching?

Protests in this stage become theatrical with props like oversized torches being extinguished, or a giant pencil chasing a giant Nike shoe representative of Fair Trade organizations pressuring Nike to sign agreements regarding sweatshops. Large groups also assemble to ridicule the torch as it passes by. In fields adjacent to airports protestors create gigantic crop circles to spell out their displeasure to airline passengers.

Pamphlets are handed out in the streets, mass bike rides and walks are organized, and passive actions like hotlines for the homeless are heavily promoted.

Protesting is more expensive than you think. Not only does it affect local businesses, it also drives up taxes because municipalities have to pay for anti-riot and protest police. Five-liter canisters of pepper spray are expensive. In Olympic regions they don’t fool around with a few hundred officers waving batons and pepper spraying from behind shields. Olympic protesters are managed with helicopters, horses, dogs, boats and all those other goodies we described earlier like tasers, full body armor, water cannons, and small armored vehicles to carry troops and bulldoze torched cars out of the way.

Protesters are subject to zero tolerance. Olympic organizers don’t push protesters back and wait for them to fizzle out. They extinguish them with extreme prejudice and have been known to send 1,500 military, one hundred and fifty SWAT members, and a full complement of artillery against one hundred protestors.

Remember, unaccredited media are watching, and the faster Olympic organizations bring things under control the better. They pounce upon the first whiff of smoke. One of the reasons is to deter professional protesters from entering the fray. What starts out as a local protest to raise visibility about a road closing has the potential to turn into a full-blown anti-Olympic event complete with balaclavas and Molotov cocktails.”

So … now that you know the Olympic protest back-story, wouldn’t it be better for our community if, instead of inciting riots, news media explored solutions?

Unfortunately it’s not that easy because in B.C. the solution is to deal effectively with Aboriginal issues and not just sweep people under the rug, and sweeping is usually what happens - except of course in Australia . . . ten years ago.

Canada’s First Nation people will show up to protest, and security forces will overreact while local mainstream news media blame “pesky protestors.” This time however, websites like this and many others will be on the scene reporting to billions around the world what is really occurring in the name of Olympic sport.

Vancouver will be the first Olympic city to have two independent media centers, and one of them will be floating freely in a social media virtual landscape without Olympic affiliation or interference, at least that’s the plan.

Here’s the second half of my social media plan and 2010 solution;

If I were an Aboriginal, I wouldn’t waste time or energy on outdated street protest. Yes it certainly attracts attention, but it’s been completely ineffective in driving change in all past Olympic regions, and it’s dangerous. Street protest has had its day and it’s time to evolve. It’s possible to achieve the same results as Australian Aboriginals by using brains over brawn.

If you’re still not convinced that it’s a waste of time and tax money ask yourself this;

Why, decades later are people in Olympic regions still protesting?

Surely you can’t believe all Olympic protesters who marched before you were inept or stupid, and that somehow magically Vancouver or Canada will do it better. Einstein believed that to do the same thing over and over and expect different results is a definition of insanity.

It makes more sense today to follow the Australian Aboriginal lead and strive for results and not simply create havoc.

The social media way is to start right now to publish open letters online to corporate Olympic SPONSORS asking them to help find a solution before Vancouver Sun reporter Miro Cernetig gets his protest wish. Olympic sponsors all have websites with contact email and forms. Use them to contact customer service departments. And then, via blogs, email, and Twitter, make sure unaccredited international media sees your letters because I guarantee, if international news media get enough letters from you, they will follow up directly with Coca-Cola, and once it hits this level it takes on a life of its own.

Protestors drink Coke, eat at McDonalds, and bank at RBC right?

Maybe it’s time you also demanded customer service, switched allegiance and asked your online social media friends and colleagues to do likewise.

The digital pen is now exponentially mightier than the sword.

Leveraging social media and conversing with Olympic sponsors directly in the public domain is effective for two reasons.

First, when corporate Olympic sponsors like Coca-Cola, McDonalds, and RBC realize they are affiliated in social media circles with Aboriginal and host region unrest, they will have great incentive to work things out amicably. Why would they want to associate their brand with violent Olympic riots and devalue the reason they invest in the Olympics in the first place?

It’s proven foolhardy for the music and news media industries to upset their customers, and it would be equally foolish for Olympic sponsors to do the same. It didn’t work when major music labels sued their customers and it won’t work for Coca-Cola either.

Olympic sponsor shareholders who are upset or scared will simply move their money to the competition, like maybe Pepsi, Ford, and TD.

It’s a good idea for our entire Olympic host community to get behind this type of solution. Not only will it ease local tension, which means less anti-riot costs, more importantly, it will put overwhelming pressure on the IOC to develop solutions.

“Looking the other way” is a big part of the problem. Social media passive protest will make it extremely difficult for Olympic partners to ignore the issues impacting our community.

The IOC will find local protest gone global via social media hard to ignore.

When prospective sponsors, who are interested in investing in future Olympic events in regions like Sochi, Russia or Rio, Brazil for example, when they see this happening they will think twice about investing in the outdated and broken Olympic business model. Already in 2009 four major TOP sponsors bailed out. It’s an IOC record for the most sponsors to leave the IOC in one year and it all occurred well before anyone was even thinking about a recession. Ex-Olympic sponsors Kodak, Lenovo, Manulife Financial, and Johnson and Johnson all said adiós to the IOC. Apparently it’s no longer the deal they once imagined.

An article in Business Week addressing the deteriorating worth of Olympic sponsorships.

A video in Business Week addressing why KODAK is no longer an Olympic sponsor.

Follow the money, and instead of undermining our own community through violent street protest, “export the conflict out of our region” and force the IOC and Olympic sponsors to pay for it.

If we protest on our streets we pay.

If we use social media to send it global Olympic sponsors and the IOC pay.

If Australia’s Aboriginals were smart enough to do it in 2000, Vancouverites and Canada’s First Nation should easily be able to do it here too, especially considering we’ve had ten years to figure out a 2010 Olympics game plan.


BIO

Maurice Cardinal has two decades of experience in the entertainment industry managing projects with companies like Capitol EMI, CBC, CBS, Grammy Award winning artists and also Fortune 500 companies, plus he has managed special events with a variety of Canadian politicians and two US Presidential Teams.

He has managed projects for the '88 Olympics in Calgary, and Expo '86 in Vancouver, plus Radio City Music Hall, the Houston Astrodome, and thousands of venues in between around the world. For the last ten years he produced and co-wrote a business newsletter (about managing news media in a crisis) read by thousands of high ranking executives and politicians, including a dozen U.S. senators and MBA students at Harvard Law School.

In addition he has designed and produced community-based internet communication campaigns and has managed projects in Canada, United States, Europe, and the Pacific Rim. He has twenty years experience in the traditional world of marketing, operations and promotion, plus a decade and a half exclusively as a new media communicator, developer, and advisor. He edits OlyBLOG.com and is author of the book, Leverage Olympic Momentum.